Absolute: Book One
by jesi lily
Summary: Something are more than just… They are absolute. The story of Lily and James and everything that follows is absolute. Marauders Era AU
1. Chapter 1

Quiet was not something that she was really accustomed to, truthfully, it was something that came around only once a year. It was always at the same time, on the same day. An odd annual moment to remind her that things were constantly moving forward in a way she was not sure she was entirely prepared for.

11:07am on September 1st. It was the same each year, she'd drop off her eldest child to attend school once more, knowing that the time before she saw them again would seem like a lifetime, that when he returned to her, he would have changed slightly once more, gone were the days of cherub like rosy cheeks and cloaks that were just slightly too long with "he'll grow into them" excuses. 11:07am on September 1st, it was the moment without fail she returned home, forcing herself to become accustomed to this change. Before her other children would shatter it after a few moments, the shock subsiding after bidding their brother farewell once again – the first time it had lasted a full hour. Not this day, not this 11:07am on September 1st. She looked around the living room she had stepped into and felt the silence more then she heard it; it was the stillness in the atmosphere, the lack of curiosity that flew like baby birds leaving the nest for the first time, in short burst of fleeting panic and uncertainty but an underlying determination – as only the young could manage.

Taking a deep breath, she inhaled the calm, treasuring it for a moment, before feeling the deep pang of longing. She wanted the noise, the rush, the busyness of a house full of children.

Finally she drew herself together and with a great effort moved forward, perhaps this time it was not just the apparent loss of her children, but something worse, something darker. Finding herself in the large kitchen of the family home, she placed a metal kettle on the stove, turning it on until the small orange flames licked at the bottom of the metal. She moved without thought, setting about making herself a cup of tea. She barely noticed the owl that appeared at the kitchen window, but after repeated clicking of its beak against the window, threatening to crack the glass, she jolted to reality and promptly let the creature in through the window. Perching on the window sill it dropped the letter that had been help within its beak, before hooting once and turning, not waiting for her to read it.

Turning the yellowing envelope over in her hands her eyes scanned the address.

_Cora Potter_

_Kitchen_

_12 Swan Lane_

_Chudleigh_

_Devon_

Reading her name and address, Cora turned the envelope over once more and looked at the red wax seal, she knew it well. Hogwarts it read beneath the emblem of a lion, snake, eagle and badger. Slipping her finger beneath the flap, she broke the seal and opened it, pulling form it a yellowing piece of parchment.

_They are on the train, under my protection._

There was no signature or name, but there needn't have been, for she knew that handwriting, it was a relief to see. All the tension she'd been carrying in her body suddenly dispersed as she got that line of confirmation and promise. The sudden whistle of the kettle boiling made her jump, which in turn made her laugh at herself, grateful for the sudden lack of silence as she placed the letter on the counter top, and finished making her cup of tea. She took a tentative first sip, relishing the taste of hot tea, helping to settle her frayed nerves.

Unable to help herself, her eyes flittered back to the letter on the counter, looking so very innocent, but knowing there was so much more behind that piece of parchment.

"Look after them Albus."

* * *

><p>"Was that really necessary?" A female voice asked pointedly, the female in question looked around the compartment that she was stood in; they were on a train, specifically The Hogwarts Express, on their journey to their school, Hogwarts, for the year. Usually this was a chaotic journey, even at the best of times. Between a bunch of new students, first years, who didn't really know what to suspect and a large group of magical teenagers all confined to a small space after not having seen each other for a summer – well it didn't lend itself to being a calm relaxing time. "I know you're excited James, but really, running through the train screaming like a banshee. Someone asked me if there'd been a murder."<p>

"But Kate, it wasn't-" James tried to respond, before cutting himself off and crossing his arms over his chest, glaring at the girl before him, Kate. She was taller than him, older too, they both had ebony black hair and skin that was the exact same shade, not pale but not tanned either, sun kissed. "You won't tell mum will you?" The boy named James gritted out, almost grudgingly. "Or dad?"

"No, James, I won't tell mum and dad," Kate sighed, wiping a hand over her forehead. James was eleven years old, it was his first time on the Hogwarts Express, he was excited, she knew that much, but he was young and didn't see any consequence to his actions beyond their mother and father telling him off, at worst getting sent to bed without dinner. It wouldn't be like that now. He knew that, but she knew that he just needed time to adjust. He'd not really done anything wrong, but there was a lot he didn't know. "And I won't tell your parents either Black, but you two need to calm it down a bit. And for Merlin's sake, Black stay away from your cousin, she's a sixth year who knows more curses then you, no need to upset her."

With poorly hidden grins on their faces, the two boys looked at each other, before looking back at Kate and nodding their heads in unison. She knew in that moment that they were going to be more trouble than any of the professors at Hogwarts were ready for. With a final sigh, Kate disappeared from the room, leaving the two boys behind her, to snicker between them.

"Sirius, I don't think I've ever seen anyone so angry before!" James laughed, his hazel eyes bright as he looked towards the boy Kate had called Black – he was Sirius Black, with hair as dark as his name and an air about him of cheeky arrogance. He wasn't much like any other boy James had met, well, not their age. He liked him instantly.

"Narcissa is _always_ like that," Sirius assured James, looking equally amused as they sat down on the seats that lined the side of the compartment. "She's far too stuck up her own butt. Really, it's her own fault, if she weren't such a _girl_ then maybe there'd be no reason to wind her up." It was sound reasoning as far as James was concerned, after all, if she was going to react in exactly that way Sirius had assured him she would, well, it was basically like asking for it, really. "Anyway, it's not like we did anything bad… I just didn't expect her to be so quick to try and curse us."

"Girls." James sighed, though at eleven years old, his experience with females was mostly limited to growing up with an older sister and a few daughters of family friends. Sirius nodded solemnly, he knew well enough from his eleven years on this world that girls were difficult, he had three cousins who proved that well enough. All but one of them was completely insane, as far as he was concerned.

"Do you think you know what house you will be in?" Sirius asked, he wasn't worried, he knew the influence his family held and that it usually meant being placed within Slytherin, one of the four houses within Hogwarts, but he also knew it wasn't going to be the one he was in.

"Of course," James replied with certainty. "I'm a Potter, I'll be a Gryffindor. Just like Kate, Tom and Will."

"Are those all your siblings?" Sirius asked, he knew of the Potter family, had met James before once or twice at Ministry of Magic things, but he had never really paid attention before, his parents wouldn't really let him. James nodded in response, and Sirius wondered for a moment what it would have been like, to grow up with siblings, that you were so sure to follow. "What years are they in?

"Tom is in his seventh, he's Head Boy this year; Kate's in sixth, I think that's how she knows of Narcissa. Will is in his fourth year." James replied with a slight shrug, he was close to his siblings and excited to finally get the chance to attend Hogwarts with them, he just didn't want Sirius to know that, he wanted Sirius to think he was cool. He opened his mouth to say something else, but Sirius' eyes travelled past him, following something behind him, so much so, he tripped forward to continue looking at the thing. Curious, James followed, until both their noses were practically pushed against the glass pane of the window separating their compartment from the corridor that went along the length of the train.

All he could see was a small figure, with the longest red hair he had ever seen, it was the colour of rubies, deep and rich, it was curly, long lengths of big barrel curls that hung down her back, but he never saw her face. She paused along the train, peering into a compartment, before sliding the door open and disappearing inside – she'd been too far away for him to make out her features.

"Did you _see _her?" Sirius demanded suddenly, peeling his face from the window to look at James, there was a brightness in his silver eyes as he looked at James. There was a smile spreading across his aristocratic face, it was not a simple happy smile but more of a grin. "Maybe being at Hogwarts with girls won't be so bad, not if they all look like _her_."

* * *

><p>With her face buried into a book, taking in each word on the page, she had barely registered that the door to her compartment had opened, until it banged softly against the compartment wall. Tearing her eyes from the page, she saw another girl stood there, she was about the same age with honey blonde hair and a round face, with freckles across her nose.<p>

"Hi, I'm Lainey!" The girl chirped, moving into the room, she bounced with each step she took, a wide toothy grin across her face. She plopped herself down on the seat opposite her, and looked expectantly.

"Oh, er, I… I'm Lily," She responded, finally, closing her book over, careful to keep her finger in place so she didn't lose the page she was on. She didn't really know what to say, she was thoroughly overwhelmed. She'd trawled along the train until she'd found a quiet compartment she could have to herself, it appeared that would no longer be the case. "Lily Evans."

"Evans?" Lainey asked her, leaning forward, her elbows rest on her knees as she rested her chin in her hands. She looked thoughtful, as golden brown eyes considered something for a moment; Lily could only assume it was the name she had provided her with. "You're a muggle born, aren't you? I don't know any other Evans' who have kids with your hair colour, nothing even near it, I mean, there's Pawel Evans, who is about our age, but his whole family have brown hair – they're all a bit boring actually."

"Oh." Lily responded, uncertain if there was an appropriate response to her comments. She knew the term muggle born of course, Professor McGonagall had told her that what she was, when she had turned up on her door step only a couple of months ago. "Erm, yes, I am muggle born."

"That's cool, my nan, she was muggle born, so she was, her and my granddad used to have a right laugh together trying to get just about anything done. She was really curious, as was my granddad. The two of them together was something of a nightmare; dad reckons it kept them both young… I dunno, I don't think they were like other grandparents-" Lainey paused for a second, if only to catch her breath, and Lily blinked at her, she'd not spoken to anyone one on the train yet, and this girl could really talk. "So you the first in your family? Not ancestors you know of showed any signs? I wonder how your parents took it? Were they freaked? I bet there were, Mum says the muggles get it hardest because it's all new to them, but I dunno, I just think it's really cool."

With wide eyes Lily just nodded, seeing flashes of her own ruby curls as they darted forward as she did, she wanted to reply, but getting a word in edge ways was almost impossible. She opened her mouth and closed it, several time over, when Lainey suddenly cringed, for a moment Lily thought she might be in pain.

"I'm sorry; my mum says I always talk too much…" Lainey told her, suddenly apologetic. "Tell me about yourself Lily Evans."

* * *

><p>"Who's that girl?" Sirius asked as they spied on the two girls sat in the compartment only a few along from the one they had abandoned for said spying purposes. They were watching the two talk; well, it was the blonde girl who seemed to speak the most, as she did her hands waved around, often in extravagant movements, occasionally causing the redhead to lean back away from their path.<p>

"That's Adalaine; her dad is Darren O'Hare, the old captain of the Kenmare Kestrels. He was awesome according to my dad, one of the best keepers in the world; he was active for over thirteen years…" There was a wonder in James' voice that he was unable to cover, he loved quidditch. He'd received his first broom before he could even walk, had more falls then he would dare admit, but he had always loved the feeling of flying, he'd gone with his dad to watch matches while his siblings were at Hogwarts, he'd even met Darren O'Hare who signed a quaffle for him. "Wonder if she's any good at quidditch?"

"Who cares if she's good at quidditch!" Sirius exclaimed, looking highly affronted by James' distraction. "Have you seen her friend!"

Finally James turned to the girl that Sirius went on about, she was small, really small for their age, clearly a first year, James had never seen her before so he doubted she was a pureblood, not that it mattered much, but they tended to know each other. She was pale, almost white, with a mass of ruby curls hanging down her back, over her shoulders and in front of her – in fact, James had never seen anything with so much hair in his life before. She was completely swamped in her school uniform; clearly they hadn't been able to supply one that would fit better. He looked at her face, it was as pale as the rest of her, though she had a smattering of light beige freckles across her nose and cheeks, but that was the only thing that gave her any colour. She had a small pointed nose, and very pink lips. The only really outstanding thing about her, other then her hair were her eyes – he'd never seen anything like them, they were really big, and bright, the exact shade of emerald green that covered the Slytherin house.

"I know her hair is bright… but she's a bit normal looking isn't she?" James muttered, scuffing the toe of his shoe against the floor. She was just like any other girl, really. Just with odd colour hair and eyes.

"James, are you and me actually looking at the same thing?" Sirius demanded, clearly aghast at the suggestion James made.

"What are we looking at," A female voice suddenly piped, sounding curious and causing both the boys to jump and glare accusingly at the girl. She was their age also, looking curiously through the window at the two girls. She was all olive skin and long hair, not unlike the redhead, though this new girls was pulled back into a large knot at the back of her head, tied with a piece of white ribbon. "oooh, look at her hair, wish mine was that colour."

"Taliah," James sighed, recognition in his voice as he relaxed. The girl looked at him and smiled, which he returned. "You're gonna blow our cover, you know that right?"

"Why are you spying on two girls?" Taliah asked quietly as she snuck down beside the boy, hidden from the view of the two girls, if they were to look their way, but they seemed engrossed in conversation. She eyed the two boys speculatively as they shared a look.

"You're a girl," The boy who wasn't James stated; he was not unlike James, dark hair and light golden skin, but where James had warm hazel eyes, this new boys were a striking silver. "You wouldn't understand."

Indignant, Taliah didn't reply to his comment, instead she stood up with a bit of a flourish and pulled open the compartment door that held the two girls, causing them both to turn in their direction, and with the door open, revealing James and Sirius huddled on the floor.

"These two are spying on you," Taliah declared loudly, a smirk across her face as she did so. "Thought you might like to know."

"James…" The blonde girl James had earlier identified as Adalaine said as she looked at the boy as he pulled himself up from his squatting position, running a hand through his hair sheepishly as his cheeks reddened. Her brown eyes flickered to the boy who he was with, and she rolled them as recognition hit her, unlike James there was none of the sheepishness as he leant against the doorframe of their compartment, a smirk gracing his features. "Sirius Black and James Potter, any particular reason who were spying on us? It's very rude of you."

"We- er…" James stammered as his face turning an even brighter shade of red as she looked at the floor, his feet, out the window past the two girls, anywhere but at them.

"What's your name red?" Sirius asked smoothly, still leant in the doorway and clearly not feeling the need to answer Adalaine, or perhaps he was answering her. His eyes were intently looking at the redhead, whose face turned the same colour of her hair under the intensity of his stare.

"Erm…" She stammered over her words, not unlike James, her face now practically radiating heat as she too looked at her feet rather than meet the intense silver eyes that looked directly at her. She was wringing her hands, clearly not at all comfortable with the way things had gone, though it was clear the boy named Sirius had not yet picked up on those signals. After a moment a taking a deep breath, she seemed to steel herself for her reply. "Erm… Er… I'm Lily… L-Lily Evans…"

"Lily," Sirius repeated, moving to sit beside the redhead. "And your friend?"

"Lainey," The blonde replied instantly, sticking her chin out slightly, a defiant move, she was none too impressed. In fact, she was a little more annoyed then anything, Lily had instantly struck her as the quiet type, easily intimidated by the overbearing new world she had just entered, the last thing she needed was a Black of all people to freak her out. Lainey knew well enough what the Black family were like, a bunch of muggle haters – there was nothing worse than them in the world, as far as Lainey was concerned. Her Nan was an amazing woman; it was unfair what they did to them. "You better not upset her Black, I know what your family is like-"

"That's not fair!" James suddenly protested, the redness in his face fading as he looked between Sirius and Lainey. "He's not like _them_."

"Yeah, little miss judgey," Sirius responded, crossing his arms over his chest in some semblance of a strop.

"Well, this is interesting," Taliah suddenly stated, slipping into the room. She turned to look at the still worried looking Lily, sympathy in her eyes as she did. "Hi Lily, I'm Taliah Lima, I think we'll all be in the same year at Hogwarts. I haven't met anyone else that looks like you before… Are you a muggle born or a half blood?"

With a quick smile at Lainey, Taliah sat beside her; the two girls knew each other from around, like many others Taliah knew of Laineys father, as it was her family owned the publishing house Lima Press that had almost won the bid to release a short career biography of his time as one of the best quidditch captain's the wizarding world had ever seen. They'd been paired together by their parents, while the adults talked business; they'd gotten along well enough then, and remembered each other.

"Muggle born," Lily replied, seemingly stronger than before, her tone slightly more defiant. Her face was still as red as a tomato, but she looked at Taliah directly as she spoke, before looking at Sirius through the corners of her eyes, she crossed over her arms, not unlike him, and leaned back in her seat. Her book lie forgotten beside her now, and it made Lainey smile, or her part Lainey knew she was a Gryffindor, like her family. When she first met Lily she had assumed she'd be a Ravenclaw immediately, with all the book reading, but as she sat there now a defiant look in her eyes, Lainey was not so sure she'd made the right judgement on her. "And you?"

"Pure blood," Sirius replied, suddenly perked up now that Lily was talking to him directly. "I'm going to be the first Black family member in Gryffindor, just you watch me."

"I don't understand… Gryffindor?" Lily asked, there was tentativeness in her voice, but curiosity in her eyes, clearly eager for this new piece of information.

"It's one of the four houses," James opened his mouth and explained, the redness gone from his face now. "Gryffindor is the best, it's for the bravest people, then there's Ravenclaw, everyone in that house is really smart. Hufflepuff is where all the soft people are, like really soft people. And then there's Slytherin-"

"Where all my family are housed. If you're a Gryffindor you don't like Slytherins-"

"Why not?"

"Because," Sirius answered, a dark look shadowing over his young face, had any of them been older and wiser they may have witnessed it with some concern, but at just eleven years old, none of them had any idea what it really could mean. "They're bad people."


	2. Chapter 2

Darkening skies stretched out over head, turning from the light, bright blue to an inky navy, until they were wrapped in darkness beyond the safe confines of train, where wall mounted lights had come to life of their own accord some hours previous. No one else questioned how the old fashioned lamps came into life themselves, but Lily had watched with fascination as the little flame flickered to life with no obvious fuel and begin to glow bright until there was eventually enough light in the compartment. They'd all changed into their school uniforms as well, disappearing in turn into a small toilet not far from their compartment. Lily had felt almost out of place amongst this group that so clearly knew more than she did, they were all so sure of themselves, while uncertainty ate away at her.

The train begun to slow, until eventually it came to a complete stop beside what looked to be a completely normal rural train station, made mostly of golden coloured stone. There were more large lamps flickering the station into light, not unlike the ones that currently shone in the compartments. The ones on the station illuminated the single person who stood on the station platform, only he wasn't like any other person she had ever seen. He was truly massive, the size easily of three men shoulder to shoulder and surely double the height. He was outlined by a halo of fluff, which as he moved she realised was in fact a mass of hair and a large furry coat. He was quite simply the furriest man she had ever laid eyes on.

Suddenly hundreds of students descended from the train, down onto the platform and moved alongside each other, Lily tore herself from the window and followed the people she had shared a compartment with, out into the chill of the early September night.

"Fir'st years!" The huge man bellowed over the heads of the wandering students. "Fir'st years Folla' me!" a trail of small students followed the beast of man with small beady eyes in a different direction to the other students who all seemed to know what they were doing and where they were going. Looking uncertain, Lily looked to Lainey for confirmation of some sort, the blonde girl just grinned at her and tilted her head in the direction the large man led them. They were a short walk along a tree lined path, before pausing at a small wooden dock, a line of boats awaiting them.

"Take yer sea's an' they'll take yer to th' castle" The huge man told them, and somehow, Lily found herself sitting in one of the small boats beside James, opposite Taliah.

In the darkness, the seemingly endless lake was stunning, as the half-moon reflected off each ripple in the water, looking like someone had scattered silvery glitter everywhere. Looking at the deep water at the small boat edge, Lily saw the reflection of her bright red hair beneath her, until it suddenly flicked out, and she realised she was not looking at her flection at all, but a creature down below the surface. Sitting straight up and looking ahead was then how she first saw Hogwarts. There was a moment of gratefulness towards the creature that had scared her into looking ahead of her, because what she saw was awe-inspiring.

Standing above them, was a building unlike any other she had ever seen. It wasn't just any other building, it was a castle, she'd seen pictures of them in fairy-tale books – but this was unlike any of them. They all tell of magical tales, but they were just stories, in that moment seeing the looming castle there was true magic, radiating from every line, every crack, every brick. With windows that flickered golden light, tall towers that seemed to stretch endlessly towards the moon that hovered above it, gracing it with gorgeous silvery light. It was purely magical.

"Are you ok?" James' voice sounded beside her, forcing her to tear her eyes from the majestic castle that stood before them, that they were getting ever closer to. "You look like you might cry… It's not scary… Not really, you don't need to be worried or anything."

"I'm not upset," Lily told him, her voice crackling, she realised for the first time that there were tears in her eyes. "It's beautiful… I don't think I expected this."

"I guess that makes sense, I've always known Hogwarts…" James paused a rummaged through his pockets, producing a clean but scrunched white tissue to the redhead. "My mum… She worries." He said with a slight shrug, explaining away the tissues as Lily wiped at her eyes with it, giving the boy a grateful smile. "You're a muggle, so that don't really explain it all to you, but it won't always be like this."

'Like this', did he mean completely overwhelming? Lily opened her mouth to ask, but the slight jolt of the bolt coming to a stop at the little dock distracted her, and instead she found herself clambering from the boat, aided by James, onto the shoreline. They travelled together as a large group of nervous eleven year olds towards the large castle, led by the giant of a man up a long fight of stone steps, lines by massive iron wrought lamps. And then, they were walking into large stone room, the entrance to the castle.

Bumping into the person before her, as they came to a sudden stop, Lily mumbled her apologies, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks as she did so. It was so easy to become distracted, she very nearly missed the arrival of a single woman, dressed completely in a green tartan, with a large black witch's hat atop her head, and a pair of square glasses on her nose. She could have easily been quite intimidating, if Lily hadn't already met her, over the summer to be told she was in fact a witch. There had been a softness about her when she had explained it all to the confused and yet not entirely surprised Evans Family. Now she was looking slightly more forbidding with pursed lips as green eyes swept over nervous looking faces, though as the two pair of green eyes met, Lily was sure she saw a slight twitch of the woman's lips, upwards in the shadow of a smile.

"I am Professor McGonagall," The woman started. "And I am here to lead you into the sorting ceremony, in which you will be sorted into your house. The house you are sorted into will become your home in your time here at Hogwarts, your fellow housemates, your family." She eyed each individual before her, and Lily knew she was measuring them up, what they were, who they might be… "I will be back in a moment to lead your through."

A moment felt like a lifetime, before the doors before them were thrown open, revealing to the group of students a massive hall, wooden supports held up a ceiling that was hidden behind what appeared to be the nights sky, perhaps the wooden supports held up nothing at all, Lily reasoned to herself as she looked around the room. There were two rows of table either side of them, holding hundreds of students each, the tables were decorated in different colours, silver and green, yellow and black, blue and bronze and finally gold and red. The students as these tables wore colours of the decorations, ties in the coordinating colours.

Before them was a long table with adults sitting along it, they watched with interest as the group of students Lily walked among neared the table, in front of which stood a lone small stool, an old looking hat sat atop it. Professor McGonagall appeared beside the stool, a large piece of rolled up parchment in her hands, she eyed them all once again, assessing them constantly.

"When I call your name, please come forward and take a seat on this stool, I will place the hat on your head and you will be sorted." Lily pondered what Professor McGonagall had just told them, the hat would be placed on their head and they would be sorted. Logically she couldn't think of a single way an old, battered looking hat could in any way have any effect upon what house they were placed in – what other reason would it be a part of a sorting ceremony?

"Aubrey, Giovanna," A girl with a high ballerinas bun made of silky black tresses, stepped forward, and took the first seat on the chair, she was a girl with darkish olive skin and s small stature, but she didn't look nearly as worried as Lily felt in that moment. Instead the redhead watched with amazement as the hat touched the girls head and seemingly came to life. The creases and patches seemed to come into a life of their own, creating features like any other face.

"Ah, Aubrey… Hmmm…" The hat was speaking, with a deep male voice, and Lily was now certain of her own terror. "RAVENCLAW!"

Cheers erupted from the table decorated in blue and bronze as Giovanna hoped from the stool and ran towards it, she seemed delighted by the section, a wide smile on her face as she rushed forward.

However, for Lily the rest of the ceremony passed her by in a blur, it was not until she felt someone poke he in the side that she was ripped from her own traumatising fear, to turned to look at James who was beside her, pointing towards the stool, Lily turned her attention back to that unimposing stool and Professor McGonagall who stood beside it, looking right at her. With no other option, Lily squared her shoulder, held her head high and moved towards the stool, taking a deep breath she sat down upon it and felt the weight of the hat touch down on her head.

"You're scared…" The voice said inside her head, it made her jump slightly, but she steeled herself. "How curious it is how you muggles survive the change." Lily bit her tongue, it wasn't really curious that she 'survived' the change, she'd always known that she was a little bit _different_, that things were always a little _odd_ when she was around. This was really a necessity, not only for her, but for her family. As Professor McGonagall had explained, she needed to be properly trained – true, she was fascinated, but that wasn't all it was. She _had_ to make the change, fearful of revealing anything bizarre about her and her family to the wider public – she wasn't ashamed, her parents had been accepting, her older sister not so much so, but she had to keep them safe, an untrained adult with magic was apparently unheard of, according to McGonagall. "You're a kind and loving young girl, you'd do anything for those that you love… But it's not just a kindness, it's a bravery…. A willingness to make sacrifices, to face your fears…" There was a pause inside her head, she wanted to say something, anything, but words had failed her. "Gryffindor!"

* * *

><p>In truth, there was a little bit of guilt settling in her stomach as she took her seat at the Gryffindor table, so lavishly decorated in gold and red. In her moments of panic, she had completely missed the sorting of her peers, of those that Professor McGonagall had said would become her family. At the table she found Sirius, sat there with the most arrogant smirk across his face that she had ever seen.<p>

"You're a Gryffindor then," Sirius remarked as she took the empty seat beside him. Lily nodded her head, looking towards the sorting ceremony wondering what was yet to come. For a reason she couldn't quite place, it felt somewhat intrusive to her to watch people being sorted, though most of the others in the room had their eyes riveted to the scene. Perhaps it was due to how personal it had felt when the hats voice had sounded in her head and read her like a book, deciding for her where she belonged, based on traits that it could seemingly see in her – ones she was not entirely sure existed in herself.

Instead, Lily turned her face back down her table, realising for the first time that it was not just her and Sirius who had taken a seat at the Gryffindor as a new student. There was a girl, a blonde little girl, well, she was actually quite tall, lanky, with a mass of blonde hair pulled into a ballerina bun atop her head. She had a pixie like face, all pointed features and high cheek bones, this was all finished with the biggest blue eyes Lily had ever seen, they were the colour of the sky on a bright day. For a moment Lily wondered how she hadn't ever seen this girl before, when bright blue orbs met her own emerald eyes.

"Hi!" The girl chirped, a smile spreading across her face as she looked at Lily, clearly she had felt Lily's stare. "I'm Bec – Rebecca, Rebecca Alton!"

"Hello," Lily responded, with much less enthusiasm then shown by the blonde girl. "I'm Lily Evans."

"And I'm Sirius Black," Sirius cut in, clearly displeased at having been left out of this clearly enthralling conversation in the first place, although it hadn't been as if he'd been talking to Bec when Lily had first arrived at the table. "We're just waiting on James now, he's a dead cert to get in Gryffindor – wonder who the rest of them will be."

They didn't have to wait long before their peers around them broke into a loud chorus of cheers as another name was called out as a Gryffindor, relief flooded Lily when she recognised Taliahs exotic features coming to sit opposite her, beside the girl named Bec. Her eyes, which were naturally nearly black in colour they were so dark, suddenly seemed alight as she took her seat, a wide smile across her face as she looked around her.

"Well Black," Taliah commented as she looked towards Sirius. "Looks like you officially made it into Gryffindor – the first Black to do so… How upset will your parents be?"

With a smirk across his face, Sirius lent to his right side, his eyes scanning across the crowd, before he paused, the smirk only growing bigger as he found what he was looking for.

"Looks like good ol' Lucie is already glaring at Cissa… I imagine a letter will be sent home tonight, probably receive a howler first thing tomorrow morning," Sirius replied, seemingly amused by the prospect – though Lily had no idea what a Howler might be, though it sounded far from pleasant, perhaps they sent wolves of some sort to punish people? Though really, she couldn't see the issue with being the first in a family to be in a certain house – they were all here for the same reason.

Only a couple of minutes after Taliah had arrived at their table, another joined them, a young boy, he was pale and small looking, with eyes the colour of amber. He looked at Lily with a small smile, before taking the seat beside her.

"Hello," Lily said to him quietly, the boy looked at her, a small smile of his own and nodded his head at her, recognition of her greeting, though he didn't look overly forthcoming, which Lily understood, she didn't feel very forthcoming herself, but heaving up all the courage she had inside her she managed to try. "I'm Lily, and you are?"

"Remus," The boy responded, timidly raising his eyes to meet Lilys, looking more relaxed as he saw the kindness in her emerald eyes. She smiled at him, nodding, uncertain what more to say as Sirius begun to bicker with Taliah over something, and the ceremony continued.

Truthfully it couldn't have taken very long, but it seemed as if it took forever. Perhaps that was just the nerves that Lily felt as she sat there at the table, wringing her hands under the dark wood and hoping people didn't see her fear. It was all so new, with so many people who seemed to know so much more than she did. It was overwhelming, she struggled against the bubbling urge to clamp her hands over her ears and snap her eyes shut, wishing all the intrusion into her once quiet life away. But she wouldn't of course, she was too stubborn, she had made the decision to come, from a mix of concern, curiosity and excitement. His had been an adventure she couldn't resist, and now, she wouldn't let the assault on her senses force her to turn her back on it, not that she was already this far in.

"Welcome!" The voice that broke her from her own thoughts, was strong and aged at the same time, with the croakiness that her grandfathers held, but a power that made her shiver. It snapped her attention towards the man who stood where the stool had been for the ceremony, and Lily realised to her embarrassment she had missed the rest of it. "I wish to keep you for only a few short moment, to welcome our newest students, please ensure you make them feel welcomes, and alas, I feel I have used my short moment, let the feast commence!"

With those words the table before Lily seemed to suddenly grow, only it hadn't grown, but a number of items had appeared atop it. Items was the wrong word, it was a mass of food, almost anything that the redhead could think of or imagine appeared along the length of the table.

"YEAH!" Sirius whooped, before diving straight into a large platter of meats, Lily watched him for a moment, before laughter bubbled from her lips and she met Taliahs eyes, before grasping her fork in hand and stabbing a large sausage, she placed it on her plate and looked at it, before cutting it open and tentatively taking a small bite – it was simply delicious, like the expensive sausages her mother used to buy for their birthday breakfast back home. "Lily, you've got to be kidding – you can't just eat one sausage!" Sirius grunted out between mouthfuls of something that was now indistinguishable. Lily nodded, spooning onto her plate a large portion of roasted potatoes and gravy and a selection of meats. "This, Lily Evans, is the good life."

* * *

><p>Stomach full to bursting, Lily followed what she had been informed was a prefect through the corridors, the prefect was a tall girl called Bronte with chestnut hair, she spoke with a strong irish accent.<p>

"Make sure you leave good time to get to your classes, the staircases can be temperamental, and the professor won't accept that as an excuse for being late to their lessons," Bronte commented as the group followed her up the large stone staircases. "And they like to change."

Lily wondered what this meant, when she witnessed before her eyes the stone leaving the wall and sliding towards them, Lily hadn't realised the level before her simply dropped off to the floor three levels before, but as she arched her neck to look she realised that she'd have to pay a bit more attention. Feeling slightly uncertain she pushed her foot against the stone, the steps were definitely solid, that much she was certain of. Eventually they paused before a large portrait, inside it was a woman, she was a heavy set woman, wearing elaborate robes, with brown hair pulled into a loose updo and more makeup then Lily had ever seen anyone wear.

"Evening ma'am," Bronte addressed the portrait of the woman, before turning back to the group of first years that Lily stood among. "This is the portrait of the Fat Lady, when you want to get into the common room, tell her the password, which will be supplied to you tomorrow and she will let you enter, but be aware, she'll give you a right telling off if you try and return after hours."

"As so students after hours deserve!" The woman in the portrait stated in a clipped tone. Lily knew better then to jump though, she'd noticed the portraits moving – not as in the whole frame, but the people within them! It was a bizarre thing for her to witness, but everyone else seemed quite at ease with it. Or like her, pretended to be.

"And now, to your rooms," Bronte said, ignoring the portrait and leading the group in a hole that appeared in the wall when the portrait swung open. The room that was revealed to them was simply everything that a living space should be, Lily couldn't help but smile to herself, it was a warm and welcoming room, with small groups of students already sat around, catching up from what must have seemed to them a long summer apart. "The girls' dorm is upstairs to my right, the boys' to the left, Girls I'll take you to your now. Fabian will take the boys to theirs."

* * *

><p>There's always that awkward moment when you first meet someone, but when you're simply shut into a small dorm with five beds in it and told to 'get to know each other'.<p>

She was relieved to recognise Lainey, Taliah and Bec, but there was also another girl. She was small and waif like, with long dark hair and small, pointed unimposing features, she had skin the colour of russet with golden tones.

"Hey you're Shacklebolt, aren't you?" Lainey asked the girl as they each stood before their own beds.

"Yeah, Cam Shacklebolt," The girl replied, a clear London accent in her voice. "And you'd be Ada-"

"Lainey, everyone calls me Lainey."

"-Lainey O'Hare, you're the quidditch players daughter, aren't you?" Cam asked, eyeing Lainey curiously.

"The one and only!" Lainey replied brightly. "And you're now stuck with me for at least the next seven years."


	3. Chapter 3

Everything was a bit of a blur, if she were honest. Lily was sat in a large classroom, full of around twenty students, all looking equally nervous.

"Please open your textbooks to the first page," A stern voice sounded from the back of the classroom, Lily turned to see Professor McGonagall walking down the middle aisle towards the front of the classroom, wearing today a red tartan. She tap her wand against the blackboard that stood beside the teacher's desk at the front of the classroom, and as if of its own accord the blackboard spun until they were face with the right side with white chalk writing across it. _'Transfiguration'_ was written across the top in neat cursive handwriting. "Can anyone in this classroom tell me what transfiguration is?"

Peering around the classroom, then toward her neighbour with whom she was sharing a desk, Taliah, Lily tentatively raised her hand in the air.

"Lily Evans," Professor McGonagall looked towards the redhead with a piercing stare, though it was not stern, more curious. "Please, go ahead."

"Transfiguration is the art of changing an item- I mean, changing its form and it's looks, so that it essentially becomes a new object." Lily answered, her cheeks reddening as she felt the eyes of the entire class on her as she supplied the answer, she wanted to shrink down, not sure she wanted to be the centre of attention – ever.

"Well done Miss Evans," Professor McGonagall said, inclining her head towards Lily slightly, a small shadow of a smile across her lips. "Ten points to Gryffindor. Now anything else?"

Once again, Lily looked around the room, but no one appeared forthcoming, after another few moments hesitation, Lily tentatively raised her hand once more.

"It's not limitless… It's guided by, erm, I think it was Gumps Law of Elemental Transfiguration?"

"Gamps, Miss Evans, but it is quite clear you've done your reading, another ten points to Gryffindor." There was a softness in the professor's voice as she corrected Lily, letting her know it was not a mistake that would be held against her. "Would it be too farfetched of me to hope that someone other than Miss Evans has done any reading at all?" With a scan over the heads of the students who all stared at her blinkingly, the professor knew her answer. Heaving something of an irritated sigh, she lifted her wand once more and tapped it against the blackboard, causing a paragraph of text to appear under the word '_transfiguration_'. "I would like you all to take a copy of these notes in todays session, then as homework I want you to _learn_ it. Next lesson I will be asking you to answer questions on it, so please ensure you do make some concentrated effort to study."

* * *

><p>"Do you think we'll always have lessons the first day?" Lainey whined as she threw herself down onto the sofa in the common room, it was already growing dark outside the window, as the early evening bore down upon them. Their day had been fast paced, and nothing like Lily had quite expected.<p>

After their hour long Transfiguration lesson they had trudge across the castle to get to their charms lesson. Charms had easily been Lily's favourite class, it was taught by a little man, with a mass of brown hair that was steadily greying, he'd introduced himself as Professor Flitwick and Lily had liked him instantly, he like Professor McGonagall had been impressed with her knowledge, though Lily was sure she'd develop something of a reputation for being bookish by the end of that lesson. Lunch had proved another feast, during which Lily had penned a letter to her mother telling her what school was like, before they had another lesson, this was double History of Magic, which Lily had been interested in, before the class had begun. The Professor was quite oddly a ghost, which there were many of within Hogwarts, but none of the others taught a subject; what she had realised quickly about history of magic was that it wasn't going to be nearly as exciting as she had first thought, in fact, most the class had fallen asleep by fifteen minutes in.

"We'll have lessons the first day every time it's a school day the first day," Camilla replied as she sat atop the table before the sofa Lainey was thrown across, she crossed her legs atop the wooden top and looked at her friends through dark eyes. "History of magic was _awful_, I wonder how long we have to take it for?"

"Until we've completed our O.W.L in it," Taliah groaned as she sat at the end of the sofa, right on top of Laineys feet. "That's years away… At least we'll get a good amount of naps in across the school year?"

"My mum says beauty rest is one of the most important things…" Bec stated, before pausing. "But then, she also believes beauty is more important than working… Maybe we shouldn't take her advice too seriously."

Laughing, Taliah nudged her friend with her shoulder.

"Probably not," Taliah giggled, though stopped suddenly as Sirius strode up to them, looking as confident as possible. "Yes, Black?"

"Don't worry Tallie," Sirius said smoothly, his eyes fixated on Lily who was curled up on the corner of the sofa, her face quickly turning the same colour as her hair. "I'm here for red."

"You're embarrassing her more likely," Cam drawled from beside Lily, turning her nose up slightly at the arrogant boy. Though he was clearly unbothered by th slight as he continued to grin at the redhead who refused to remove her eyes from the book in her hands. "And you brought your friends I see."

Behind him, Cam had noted, were a group of boys, Lily peered at them for a second, recognising Remus and James instantly, there were two other boys too, one was short with darkish blonde hair that stuck limply to his head, he was ruddy looking, refusing to look any of them in the eye. The other was taller than the others, he had blonde hair and quite a square face.

"I can't get them to stop following me!" Sirius sighed dramatically, grinning as James nudged him with his shoulder, laughing at his friends arrogance. "So Red, you're quite smart then? Have you read every book on the list?"

"Erm," Lily felt the heat rising to her cheeks as she looked from Sirius, down to the book in her hand – she had, her excitement overwhelming her to know more, so she'd read every book on the list, as well as a few others that had picked at her interest. "I've read a few…"

"You have!" Sirius exclaimed, his face alight with amusement as he did, a wide grin across his face. He was clearly not taken in with her little white lie. "You've read them all!"

"Hey Black, you winding up the girls? Leave them alone, yeah?" A tall boy commented, he was easily one of the seventh years, with dark hair, a strong jaw and slightly pointed chin. "James, me, Will and Kate are going to go and floo mum, y'know what she's like on our birthdays. You coming?"

"Yeah sure, just let me grab your birthday present from upstairs!" James called eagerly, already rushing towards the stairs that would lead him up to the boys' dormitories.

"Happy birthday!" Lily suddenly blurted out towards the boy who watched James run up the stairs with amusement written across his face. The boy turned his face back towards the young redhead, smiling a small kind smile, causing heat to rise to her face once more, he was really pretty.

"Thanks, Lily Evans, right?" The boy asked, Lily nodded, he grinned at her. "And if Black-" He put his hand on top of Sirius' head, ruffling his ebony curls, much to Sirius' dismay. –"keeps winding you up, let me know, I'll quickly sort this trouble maker out." Looking as if he was about to protest, Sirius opened his mouth, however his retort was cut off by James' return, present in hand. He thrust the blue package towards his brother, the word "TOM" Scrawled across it in messy handwriting. "C'mon James, Kate and Will are waiting for us."

James waved to the group, before departing the common room, trailing behind his older brother.

"So that's the famous Tom Potter…" Cam muttered, looking wistfully at the back of the portrait entrance, the two potters had just left through. "He's meant to be an amazing quidditch player… My brothers say he's the best that Gryffindor have had in forever…"

"Quidditch?" Lily asked, something she regretted as all eyes turned to her.

"Quidditch?" Sirius croaked out, repeating her question with a horrified expression on his face.

"You don't know what quidditch is yet?" The new boy with blonde hair asked, looking dumbfounded by the mere idea. Lily got the idea, clearly quidditch was something all these magical kids got – but she'd never heard of it before, Cam had said an amazing quidditch player, maybe it was a game of some sort, like chess. Though how good at a game like that someone could be, she did not know. And Tom hadn't struck her as a chess player… Maybe it was a sport, like football or cricket. Not that she knew much about them either, other than her father went away to watch matches regularly. She recalled briefly that Laineys dad played quidditch too, it had to be a sport, she'd just never thought to ask. "Quidditch is the best sport ever!" The boy exclaimed excitedly. "It's like basketball but on brooms, flying. My dad's a muggle, he didn't get it at first either."

"Flying? On brooms?" Lily asked, suddenly sounding quite excited as she looked at the boy that had explained quidditch to her, really she wasn't much into sports… Flying however…

"Yeah, we should all see the first match together, when the season starts!" the boy replied, sounding just as excited, Lily nodded, sports was not her thing, but this she had to see, she wanted to try. She'd be able to fly, that would be amazing.

"We'll have flying lessons at some point this week," Taliah told Lily, a smile spreading across her face as the redhead clearly became enthused over the prospect. "We can't play quidditch in our first year, but we could in our second, if we made the team… second years never do, but we could practice."

"That sounds amazing!" Lily sighed wistfully, her book sat half-forgotten in her hands as she stared off to the distance past her friends… Flying, would be something else…

* * *

><p>"Happy birthday Tom!" The man grinned as his siblings sat around him, their parents had just disappeared from the fireplace where there heads had been, talking to them, wishing Tom a happy birthday.<p>

"Eighteen years old, aren't you, like, officially old now?" Kate laughed, grinning at her brother as they sat around the last of the cake that had appeared in the room when they had arrived here.

"Yeah, alright Kate," Tom ground, throwing a small piece of cake at her, which she screeched at, ducking to avoid it hitting her face, it landed in her dark hair instead. "You sound like mum, it'll be you next whose going on about marrying us all off."

"Oh come on, you've been seeing that Grace Bones forever!" Kate retorted as James looked towards his other brother, Will, awkwardly. James didn't get it, Kate had gone on and on all summer about her new boyfriend, a friend of Toms called Fabian. He was always over and with her, he even refused a game of quidditch to go to the park with Kate instead. Tom had called him whipped – which didn't sound entirely pleasant to James.

"Yeah, but Grace isn't the girlfriend type," Tom replied with a shrug. "Why you picking on me it's my birthday, pick on Will or James."

"James, you're new, there's a lot of pretty girls in your year-"

"But they're girls!" James groaned, sticking his tongue out. "I don't want a girlfriend! I want to play quidditch!"

His three older siblings laughed, which riled him slightly.

"Oh to be young!" Kate laughed, wrapping an arm around James shoulder, before looking to Tom once more. "Unlike you, oldie."


	4. Chapter 4

The day had finally come, the day which Lily had been thinking about endlessly as she meandered through corridors, sat at the table in the great hall, lay in bed at night. True, she'd only found put about quidditch on Wednesday and it was not only the Friday, but the time span between had seemed to take an eternity to the excited eleven year old. To make matters worse she'd had to endure a two hour history of magic lesson, then lunch before finally she rushed towards the area of the castle where the flying lessons were going to take part.

Out on the grass her eyes quickly fell to the teacher standing there, a wall, willowy looking woman with short spiky grey hair, looking directly at her, the woman stood beside a row of broomsticks, in front of those was another.

"Well, don't just stand there!" The woman called, sounding impatient. "Come, pick a broom, not that there's much difference in any of them."

Doing as she was instructed, Lily move swiftly to the first broom in the rows, followed quickly by Cam, Taliah, Lainey and Bec. The boys were there as well, James sand Sirius were nudging each other, snickering and looking at the brooms with thinly veiled excitement. Remus didn't look nearly as certain, however, Dale, the tall blonde boy was grinning as he stared down at the broom at his feet, while Peters watery blue eyes took in the sight of the broom with apparent scepticism. Looking across to her friends, the girls all seemed quite happy, Cam and Taliah looked at the brooms with eagerness while Bec appeared slightly uncertain, Lainey for her part looked bored – she'd moaned endlessly that she was able to ride a broom – her father was a professional quidditch player.

"Alright!" The professor barked. "I'm Madame Hooch, your flying instructor, I also act as referee in quidditch matches. I know all there is to know about flying, so listen closely, I don't want to be having to deal with any broken bones this year."

"First things first, step to the left of your broom, until it is at your right hand side – I said right hand side Jones!" She sighed exasperatedly, as a blonde girl in Hufflepuff colours turned red, correcting her position. "Now remember, you need to take control of the room, you are in charge, not the other way around. It can sense your fear."

"With your right hand over the room – not yet Potter! I want you to firmly say the word 'up' – I said not yet Potter!" Lily's eyes flickered to where James stood, grinning sheepishly as he lowered his hand. "I want you to grasp the broom tightly in your right hand when it rises, nothing else, just grasp it firmly. Alright, give it a go!"

Looking down at her broom, Lily grinned once more, before pulling back her shoulders, feigning confidence.

"Up!" Her broom twitched, even hopped off the ground a bit before falling back into place and remaining there, looking up and around to see how everyone else was doing, she quickly spotted that James, Sirius and Lainey already had brooms in hand, the other however were mostly getting the same reaction as she was. She frowned, before parting her feet until they were shoulder width apart, pulled back her shoulders. "UP!"

The broom flew into her hand, she even squeaked as the smooth wood hit her plan, a wide smile spreading across her face as she felt it there, floating in her air with her small hand wrapped around it. Looking around, Cam also hand her broom in hand, quickly followed by Dale and Taliah; Remus, Bec and Peter weren't having as much luck.

"You must say it like you _mean_ it." Lily looked to Bec who was frowning at her broom that lay still at her feet, Madame Hooch could say 'say it like you mean it' all she wanted, but it might not _mean_ something to Bec, who just looked confused.

"Like you want it… Like you need it in your hand… You control the broom," Lily told Bec quietly.

"That's it Miss Evans, exactly!" Madame Hooch exclaimed, grinning at Lily, who visibly reddened at the compliment she was being given. A smile spread across her face, despite herself, she could do this, she could be a witch, she could fly. More than that, she could help others do it too. It was a very nice thought indeed. She watched as Bec, with renewed concentration, called the word 'up', she was quickly rewarded with the broom lifting into the air, into her hand, until she clasped her fingers around it.

"I did it!" Bec squeaked, hopping from foot to foot excitedly. She turned to Lily, a smile spread across her face.

Smiling to herself, Lily looked to her own broom, feeling it in her hand as she flexed her fingers around it. This is what she needed to do, she needed to learn to fly, she was made to do so.

"OK, when I say so, you are to step one leg over the broom, grip the top of the handle firmly with both hands, and push off the ground," Madame Hooch told them, her golden eyes looking at them each in turn, as if trying to properly hammer the message into their brains. "Once you have done this, hover for a minute before pushing the handle towards the ground, this will direct the broom into lowing you back into the ground. Anyone that does not follow those exact instructions will find themselves in detention for a month!" Her eyes flickered towards were James and Sirius were snickering together, apparently their reputations were spreading amongst the professors. "Now, off you go, hover!"

Taking a deep breath, Lily pulled over leg over the broom and settled herself down on it, surprised by the fact it was more comfortable then she had thought it would be, almost as if it had an invisible seat. She settled her small frame down on it, wriggling slightly until she felt completely settled, grinning to herself as she could feel the broom vibrate slightly, as if it felt the same eager anticipation she did. With her hands tightly gripped to the broom, she kicked off from the floor, shooting five foot into the air.

Looking at the ground she could see her shadow below her, then she looked up and around her, the only others in the air were James, Sirius, Dale, a Hufflepuff boy and a girl. Catching James' eye, Lily grinned, which was returned he nodded his head towards her, it was a sign of approval. Quickly Cam joined them in the air, then Lainey and Taliah, Remus, Bec and Peter.

It felt like no time before the professor was instructing them to lower their brooms to the ground, which Lily did almost reluctantly, until she felt the soft ground beneath her shoes. A shriek forced her to look up, to see Jones, the Hufflepuff girl, go shooting forward, knocking directly into Remus, sending him flying back a good few feet as she continued forward, screaming.

"Every year!" Madame Hooch sighed, before running off after the screaming girl, looking over her shoulder. "Please someone make sure Lupin isn't dead!"

* * *

><p>Remus had quite fortunately survived the incident with nothing more than a few bruises, which he was very unconcerned with. James and Sirius had with the help of Dale dragged him to the hospital wing, despite Remus' protests, while the girls watched as Madame Hooch retrieved the clearly terrified Jones from her runaway broom.<p>

"Well, some of us clearly should try out for the quidditch team next year," Bec commented as the girl gathered their belongings and begun to trudge back towards the castle and the common room, more than ready for the weekend which begun now. "Well, not me, I didn't like that too much at all… But Lily, Cam, Lainey, Taliah, you guys were all really good at it…"

"No thank you." Lainey responded quickly, shaking her head as she did. "I've grown up with quidditch my entire life, I've had enough to last me forever."

"I'm not much into sports," Lily added, she liked the flying thing, but she'd never really been one for teams sports, up until coming to Hogwarts she'd gone to dance classes and gymnastics lessons, but team sports had never really appealed to her before. "Well, teams sports."

"You should give it a go Lily, you never know," Cam told her with a serious look on her face. "Quidditch is amazing, I am definitely trying out for the team."

"Ahhh, so the first flying lesson has only just finished, and already there's talk of who will be on the Gryffindor team," A female voice laughed as the girls entered the Gryffindor Common room, Lily looked to see a familiar face stood there, smiling at them. It was Bronte, the girl who had shown them the way to the common room their first evening here, she was stood beside another girl, she had dark black hair and a pretty face with familiar hazel eyes.

"Kate, do you remember when we had our first lessons, oh so eagerly discussing quidditch after?" Bronte laughed as the girls paused beside them, Lily remembering Kate as being one of James' siblings, she was really pretty, with a kind look on her face. "And then, boys happened and suddenly sports wasn't nearly as interesting."

"Boy happened!" A tall, well-muscled seventh year called across the room, he had a shock of carrot coloured hair atop his head, as he eyed Kate closely, Lily recognised him as Fabian, the seventh year prefect.

"Boy happened," Kate agreed, her cheeks reddening slightly, before turning back to the girls. "So which of you is hoping for a spot on the team?"

"Me," Cam answered instantly, her whole face brightening as she did. "I want to be chaser… or maybe seeker."

"I could see you as a chaser, has your brother Kingsley been teaching you anything? He's quite the player, I know he taught Darwin who is looking to join the team?" Kate asked Cam, who shrugged slightly. "Let me guess, your brothers don't let you play?" This time Cam nodded her head, and Kate laughed slightly. "Brothers, mine used to do the same to me."

"Do none of you want to try out for the team?" Bronte asked the rest of the girl, but none of them seemingly did.

"Maybe," Taliah answered finally, though she did not sound entirely sure. "I dunno… Maybe… It would be kinda cool."

"Being on the team is cool," The carrot coloured hair lad piped up again, jumping up from his position and sauntering towards Kate, wrapping an arm around her waist as he spoke to the girl. "Fabian Prewett, Gryffindor Beater and second in command… Between me and Tom, we're running one of the best teams Hogwarts have ever seen." A look of awe come over Cams face as she looked at him, even to the point her mouth fell open slightly as she stared at the boy before her. He seemed to notice, giving her a quick wink that Lily was sure was gonna cause her friend to fall unconscious. "You should pop to our quidditch practice sometime, you can't play little Gryffie, but you'll pick up some stuff."

Nodding her head furiously, her wide, dark eyes, still intently trained on the boy, Cam was clearly lost to all around her. The three older Gryffindors wandered off together, Cams eyes following the boy still.

"I think I love him."

"Camilla Shacklebolt, he's a seventh year!" Taliah laughed as the three girls begun moving towards the staircase that would bring them to their dorm room. "He's OLD! And did I mention, he's a seventh year!"


	5. Chapter 5

Grinning widely, Lily was amazed as she sat down in the stands the surrounded the large oval pitch. In many ways it wasn't that different to a football pitch, it was grass covered, with white lines drawn out across the grass. However, instead of the rectangular nets that could be found at each end of a football pitch, for quidditch there were three tall hoops, not quite like basketball – these ones stood tall and erect, whereas basketball hoops lay down slightly for throwing. This game wasn't about throwing up and shooting into a hoop though… this was about flying.

Barely able to contain her excitement this morning, Lily had rushed about getting ready, down in the common room, a few of the older girls were painting people's faces, or transferring images from a stock pile onto their face, like the Gryffindor house emblem. Eagerly Lily awaited her turn, requesting the Gryffindor house emblem on one cheek and the colours stripped on the other as many other Gryffindors had done.

"Evans," One of the girls said with a grin as she watched a blonde girl carefully stamp the emblem onto the redheads cheek, Lily looked to her through the corner of her eye. She was a student only a few years older than Lily, with waves of just below shoulder length brown hair, a round face and pointed nose. "You've got proper red Gryffindor hair, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind letting me play with it a little bit, and put some god ribbons through it?"

"Ooooh," The blonde doing Lily's face commented. "That would look so pretty, you'd basically be the Gryffindor mascot, you should let Marlene do it!" With an eager nod, Lily let the brown haired girl called Marlene being to play with her hair, until it was all pulled into a French plait that was pulled around her hairline as if it were a crown, with golden ribbon pulled through it several times, a twist of red and gold. "Don't you look like the perfect little Gryffindor!"

Smiling brightly, Lily thanked the two girls, before dashing back up to her dorm, where her friends were still getting ready. For her part, Lily was already dressed, wearing a pair of jeans with her bright red Gryffindor jumper and gold and red stripped scarf pulled over her shoulders.

"I like your hair," Bec commented, pausing to inspect the intricate updo that Marlene had done to Lily's hair. "Who did it? Do you think they could do something with mine?"

"It was Marlene, come with me, we'll ask," Lily replied excitedly, far too drawn up with the potential of today, of watching her first quidditch match, to quell her eagerness. She practically dragged Bec down the stairs towards Marlene, who grinned at her, agreeing as Lily fervently requested she do something with Becs hair. "It was just really pretty, and we'd be really grateful!"

"It's fine," Marlene laughed as she sat Bec down on the nearest seat and begun to intricately twist Becs blonde locks. "So Lily's really excited for the first quidditch match of the year, what about you?"

"I like sports, my dad plays some muggle sports - football professionally," Bec responded, though it was evident in her tone that that jump about excitement Lily felt was not quite as felt by her friend. "I mean, it's great and all… but my mum always takes me to international games to meet the players… I think she's trying to marry me off…"

There was a bemused look on Marlene's face, as she looked up and caught the eye of the blonde haired girl who had painted Lily's face. Truth was, even Lily thought that was a slightly odd comment that caught her off guard. Marry? They were eleven years old!

"Erm, you're only eleven right?" Marlene asked Bec, bemusement still evident on her face.

"Yep," Bec answered, with a nod of her head. "Only just, my birthday is August thirtieth."

With a look at the blonde girl once again, Marlene shrugged one shoulder slightly.

"Well, I wouldn't worry about it, here, quidditch is just quidditch, and boys can be worried about later, like, when you're much older, marriage even later." Marlene told Bec, her hand on her shoulder giving it what seemed like a reassuring squeeze, Bec smiled and nodded, though for the first time since Lily had met her, Bec looked… Lily couldn't quite figure it out what she looked like, it was as if she had almost gotten smaller. "Your hair is done, why don't you run and grab lunch with Lily before the game."

Now sat between Camilla and Bec, Lily eagerly awaited the moment it would all begin. The boys had joined them in the Great Hall for lunch, Dale had explained the more intricate rules to her, the different positons and how to score points.

"It's about to start!" Cam squealed excitedly, clapping her hands together and leaning forward in the stands, Lily mirrored her actions, the two of them desperately eager to experience this – their first Hogwarts Quidditch Game. "ARGH! Look Lily!"

Following to the point that Cam held her finger towards, Lily saw the Gryffindor team, they were too far away to make out their exact features, but she could see them, dressed in a mainly red uniform with golden accents, they stood tall and proud, before mounting their brooms and shooting out into the air before them, their gracefulness was a thing of beauty. They manoeuvred together around the pitch, before flying low over the stands, so low that Lily were sure if she put her hand into the air she could touch their shoes, so low that she could feel the rush of air dancing around her as they passed. The team flew towards the centre of the pitch, forming a semi-circle, opposite the other team, dressed in clue, the Ravenclaw team that Gryffindor were playing against. Madam Hooch approached the two teams, paused for a moment, before throwing a ball into the air - the quaffle, and starting the game.

* * *

><p>"That was amazing!" Lily yelled as the whole of the Gryffindor house descended on the common room, cheering loudly, as members of the Gryffindor quidditch team were lifted into the air by their housemate – celebrating their victory on the field. Gryffindor had worn three-hundred-and-twenty-points to two-hundred-and-fifty-points, it had been a close game with Ravenclaw getting the upper hand until the small, blonde Gryffindor Seeker, a girl named Tessa, had caught the golden snitch. "We won! We WON!"<p>

Grabbing Taliahs hands, Lily danced around in circles, endlessly excited by the turn of events took – before as much as she wanted her team to win, she was just thrilled to watch her first match, now she wasn't sure that anything compared to seeing them win. A pair of hands on her shoulders made her pause, she turned to see one of the older boys, a fourth year with dark hair and pale skin, he was grinning kindly down at her, she recognised him briefly.

"Woah, you enjoyed the game then?" The boy asked laughingly, as Lily enthusiastically nodded her head. He laughed in a friendly manner before his eyes turned to the large group of them, the first years having all gathered together. "James, did you enjoy the match?"

"It was AWESOME! I knew we would win though Will, did you see Tom?" James told him excitedly.

"Yeah, do you want to come congratulate him?" Will asked, grinning still, before turning towards where the team stood cheering, without a seconds pause, James followed him closely.

"I should go congratulate Darwin and Kingsley!" Camilla said suddenly, watching James near the team. "Darwin will be well happy, it's only his first game and we won."

For the first time, Lily thought about her siblings, so many of her friends had family here with them, someone to share Hogwarts with. While she had her friends, her older sister had not made it to Hogwarts, but her brother they would not know for sure for a years yet. Maybe she would have a sibling to share with this in a few years.

* * *

><p>"Did you see how he led that team?" A man asked proudly, expecting no answer as he walked out into the living room from a fireplace that stood in a large living room. Flicking a wand that was held in his hand towards a light fitting on the ceiling, the lights came to life illuminating him and the woman who stood just before the fireplace. "It's hard to believe what a man he's become, really. Where are they days he used to hang off my leg and be me to take him out on my broom?" There was a warmth in his voice as he spoke, pride shining in his brown eyes. "They've all grown up so much."<p>

"He takes after his father," The woman told him, a smile playing on her lips. "He's eighteen years old, when and how did that happen?"

"Well, it happened not very long ago, and if I have to explain to you how we came to have a son, or three and a beautiful daughter, I'd be very concerned Cora," The man told her with a suggestive smirk across his face, he sauntered towards the woman, who laughed lightly at his teasing, and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. "Of course I could show you once more."

"That won't be necessary," Cora replied as she felt him nuzzle into her neck, placing soft kisses there, she heard him make a 'pfft' noise of indignation at her response to his wooing attempts. She laughed again. "Harry Potter, dear husband of mine, I can assure I really don't need you to show me how we came to have any of our children."

"Woman!" Harry growled, pulling back from his wife, and looking into her bright blue eyes. "I am trying to seduce you, would you please let me?"

Laughing heartedly Cora placed her hands on either side of her husband's handsome face and kissed him softly on the lips. She pulled back and searching his face, her sons took after him so much, strong square jaw, golden skin, straight nose. He was ridiculously handsome, and he was hers.

"Harry, my darling, it's not your seduction techniques," Cora laughed, kissing him softly again. "It's the lesson you're trying to teach me." She watched for his reaction, but mostly her husband looked confused. "You've already shown me how we came by four beautiful children, and now, I've been very much shown once again."

"Cora…" Harry murmured, stepping back from his wife, only to take all in with his eyes, they travelled up and down her body, before pausing on her stomach. She had put on a couple of pounds recently, nothing much, he had noticed, but they lived stressful lives in a stressful time, and no matter what she was and always would be the most beautiful woman to him. "Are you telling me…"

"That I'm pregnant, yes."


End file.
